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A07531 Summary:

BILL NOA07531
 
SAME ASSAME AS S01405
 
SPONSORButtenschon
 
COSPNSRD'Urso, Sayegh, Walker, Gottfried, Romeo, Galef, Otis, Blake, Seawright, Ramos, Glick, Darling, Fall, Reyes, Burke, McMahon, Niou
 
MLTSPNSRGriffin
 
Amd §770, add §771-b, Gen Bus L
 
Relates to home improvement contract provisions.
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A07531 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          7531
 
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                       May 9, 2019
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection
 
        AN ACT to amend  the  general  business  law,  in  relation  to  roofing
          contract provisions
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 770 of the  general  business  law  is  amended  by
     2  adding a new subdivision 8 to read as follows:
     3    8. "Roofing contractor" means a person, firm or corporation, including
     4  but  not  limited to, a person that is a nonresident roofing contractor,
     5  independent contractor, day laborer  or  subcontractor  engaged  in  the
     6  business  of  roofing, gutter, downspout or siding services for a fee or
     7  who offers to engage in or solicits roofing-related services,  including
     8  construction,  installation, renovation, repair, maintenance, alteration
     9  or waterproofing. This definition shall not include a person engaged  in
    10  the  demolition  of a structure or the cleanup of construction waste and
    11  debris that contains roofing material, nor a person engaged in  building
    12  a  new  home  or  housing  development.  "Roofing  contractor" shall not
    13  include:
    14    (a) an owner or farm property owner who physically  performs,  or  has
    15  employees  who  perform  repairing, remodeling, altering, converting, or
    16  modernizing of, or adding to, their own dwelling  or  another  structure
    17  located  on the property owned by the person without the assistance of a
    18  roofing contractor.
    19    (b) any authorized employee or representative  of  the  United  States
    20  government, the state of New York, or any political subdivision perform-
    21  ing  the repairing, remodeling, altering, converting, or modernizing of,
    22  or adding to, government property.
    23    § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 771-b
    24  to read as follows:
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06490-01-9

        A. 7531                             2
 
     1    § 771-b. Responsibilities of roofing  contractors.  1.  Every  roofing
     2  contractor shall enter into a written contract with an owner pursuant to
     3  all of the provisions of section seven hundred seventy-one of this arti-
     4  cle  before  engaging  in  the business of roofing, gutter, downspout or
     5  siding  services  for such owner. In addition, the contract entered into
     6  under this section shall contain the name of the insurer, type of insur-
     7  ance coverage as required by subdivision nine of this section,  and  the
     8  insurance policy limits obtained by the roofing contractor.
     9    2.  A  roofing  contractor  shall  not  advertise or promise to pay or
    10  rebate all or any portion of any insurance deductible as  an  inducement
    11  to  the sale of goods or services. As used in this section, a promise to
    12  pay or rebate includes granting any allowance or offering  any  discount
    13  against  the  fees  to  be  charged  or paying the insured or any person
    14  directly or indirectly associated with the property any form of  compen-
    15  sation,  gift, prize, bonus, coupon, credit, referral fee, or other item
    16  of monetary value for any reason.
    17    3. An owner who has entered into a written  contract  with  a  roofing
    18  contractor  to provide goods or services to be paid under a property and
    19  casualty insurance policy may cancel the contract prior to  midnight  on
    20  the  third  business  day  after  the insured party has received written
    21  notice from the insurer that all or any part of the claim or contract is
    22  not a covered loss under the insurance policy.  Cancellation occurs when
    23  written notice of cancellation  is  given  to  the  roofing  contractor.
    24  Notice  of cancellation, if given by registered or certified mail, shall
    25  be deemed given when deposited in a mailbox properly addressed and post-
    26  age prepaid. Notice of cancellation shall be sufficient if it  indicates
    27  the  intention of the owner not to be bound. Notwithstanding the forego-
    28  ing, this subdivision shall not apply to  a  transaction  in  which  the
    29  owner  has  initiated  the contact and the roofing contract is needed to
    30  meet a bona fide emergency of the owner, and  the  owner  furnishes  the
    31  roofing  contractor  with a separate dated and signed personal statement
    32  in the owner's handwriting describing the situation requiring  immediate
    33  remedy  and  expressly acknowledging and waiving the right to cancel the
    34  roofing contract within three business days. For the  purposes  of  this
    35  subdivision  the  term "owner" shall mean an owner or any representative
    36  of an owner.
    37    4. Within ten days after a contract referred to in  subdivision  three
    38  of  this section has been cancelled, the roofing contractor shall tender
    39  to the owner any payments, partial payments, or deposits  made  and  any
    40  note  or  other  evidence  of  indebtedness.  If,  however,  the roofing
    41  contractor has performed any emergency  services,  acknowledged  by  the
    42  owner  in writing to be necessary to prevent damage to the premises, the
    43  roofing contractor shall be entitled to the  reasonable  value  of  such
    44  services.  Any  provision  in a contract referred to in this subdivision
    45  that requires the payment of  any  fee  for  anything  except  emergency
    46  services  shall not be enforceable against the owner who has cancelled a
    47  contract pursuant to this section.
    48    5. A roofing contractor shall not require an owner to provide a depos-
    49  it for the work and materials. A roofing contractor  shall  not  mandate
    50  that  a particular form of payment be made in order to commence perform-
    51  ance of the home improvement.  A  roofing  contractor  may  invoice  for
    52  payment  of  the  materials  portion of the project upon delivery of the
    53  materials to the owner of  the  property.  The  material  cost  must  be
    54  disclosed  to  the  property  owner  in writing in advance of payment. A
    55  roofing contractor  may  invoice  the  remainder  of  the  project  upon
    56  successful completion of all contracted work.

        A. 7531                             3
 
     1    6. A roofing contractor shall not abandon, or fail to perform, without
     2  justification,  any  roofing  contract, nor shall the roofing contractor
     3  deviate from or  disregard  plans  or  specifications  in  any  material
     4  respect  without  the  consent  of the owner. A roofing contractor shall
     5  abide  by  the  applicable  building code for the jurisdiction where the
     6  residential property is located.
     7    7. A roofing contractor  shall  not  fail  to  pay  for  materials  or
     8  services  rendered  in  connection  with  a  roofing  contract where the
     9  contractor has received sufficient funds as payment for  the  particular
    10  contract for which the services or material were rendered or purchased.
    11    8. A roofing contractor shall not perform the reporting, adjusting, or
    12  negotiating a claim on behalf of the owner and shall not receive compen-
    13  sation  for  the referral to any entity that reports, adjusts or negoti-
    14  ates a claim on behalf of an owner. Nothing herein  prevents  a  roofing
    15  contractor  from  communicating with an insurance company representative
    16  and sharing his or her technical knowledge when  the  insurer  initiates
    17  the communication.
    18    9.  (a) A roofing contractor shall provide to the owner adequate proof
    19  of insurance of the types and amounts set forth in this subdivision:
    20    (1) A certificate of workers' compensation covering all  employees  of
    21  the  roofing  contractor.  If  the  roofing contractor does not have any
    22  employees, then the contractor must provide a certificate of attestation
    23  exemption (CE-200) form from the workers' compensation board; and
    24    (2) Certificates of general liability and property damage insurance in
    25  the amount of one hundred thousand dollars  per  person,  three  hundred
    26  thousand  dollars  per  occurrence,  bodily  injury;  and fifty thousand
    27  dollars for each occurrence and aggregate, property damage.
    28    (b) The insurance requirements set forth  in  this  subdivision  shall
    29  apply  to roofing contracts performed in all political subdivisions that
    30  do not contain any insurance requirements for such contracts.
    31    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    32  it shall have become a law.
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